Office of the Bureau Chief, Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau

About Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB)

Admiral David G. Simpson, Chief
Rear Admiral (ret.) David Simpson was appointed Chief of the Federal Communications Commission’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau in November 2013. As Bureau Chief, he oversees public safety, homeland security, emergency management, cybersecurity, and disaster preparedness activities at the FCC. He works with public and private partners and through the rulemaking process to deliver state-of-the-art communications that are accessible, reliable, resilient, and secure, and to help ensure that communications networks meet the public safety needs of Americans during emergencies. He brings to this role more than 20 years of Information and Communications Technology experience supporting the Department of Defense, working closely with other agencies to provide secure communication services and improve cyberdefense readiness.

Admiral Simpson served previously as the vice director of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). In that capacity, he helped lead an organization responsible for planning, developing and providing interoperable global communications for the Defense community. He also served as a senior delegate to the 2012 ITU World Radio Telecommunications Conference and to the World Conference on International Telecom (WCIT). From 2009 through 2010, as Director for Communications and Information Services for U.S. Forces Iraq in Baghdad, he synchronized strategic and operational-level communications for U.S. Forces and assisted the Government of Iraq in building capacity for the information and communications technology sector. Simpson’s extensive career includes assignments with responsibility for networks, IT, and crisis communications for afloat and other deployed forces in Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. Simpson is a native of Burbank, California and a 1982 graduate of the United States Naval Academy. He earned a master's degree in systems technology from the Naval Postgraduate School.

Lisa M. Fowlkes, Deputy Chief
Lisa M. Fowlkes is the Deputy Bureau Chief of the FCC's Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau responsible for development and implementation of FCC policies in the areas of cybersecurity, communications reliability and emergency alerting. Ms. Fowlkes has led many of the FCC’s public safety policy initiatives such as its efforts to ensure that consumers have access to information on backup power solutions, the FCC’s adoption of rules to ensure the reliability of 911 networks, particularly as the communications industry goes through major technological changes, and the FCC’s adoption of rules to ensure that consumers can receive timely and accurate emergency alerts over cell phones and other mobile devices through Wireless Emergency Alerts.

Ms. Fowlkes’s career spans over 25 years during which she has held several positions within the FCC, including Assistant Chief of the FCC's Enforcement Bureau, where she specialized in the enforcement of the FCC’s broadcast obscenity and indecency, pirate radio, 911, Emergency Alert System and other rules. In addition, Ms. Fowlkes has served as Deputy Chief of the FCC's Public Safety & Private Wireless Division, Senior Attorney-Advisor in the Office of General Counsel, Supervisory Attorney in the Cable Services Bureau and Attorney-Advisor in the Mass Media Bureau. Ms. Fowlkes also practiced law at a Washington, DC law firm where she represented public safety agencies, broadcast licensees, critical infrastructure service providers, government defense contractors and equipment manufacturers before the FCC.

David Furth, Deputy Chief
David Furth is the Deputy Chief of the Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau. He is responsible for overseeing policy issues pertaining to public safety and homeland security including public safety spectrum and licensing, E911, Emergency Alert System, and CALEA. Mr. Furth served as Acting Bureau Chief from January to July 2009. From September, 2006 through January, 2009, Mr. Furth was an Associate Bureau Chief. In this capacity, he was responsible for a variety of legal and policy issues in the Bureau, most notably the 800 MHz rebanding proceeding. From March 2003 to September 2006, Mr. Furth was Associate Bureau Chief and Counsel in the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. Since joining the Commission in 1992, Mr. Furth has served as an attorney in the Private Radio Bureau and the Wireless Bureau, Legal Advisor to Commissioner Rachelle Chong, Deputy Chief and Chief of the Commercial Wireless Division, and Senior Legal Advisor in the Wireless Bureau. Prior to joining the Commission, Mr. Furth was in private law practice in Washington, DC and San Francisco, California. He received his B.A. from Harvard University and his J.D. from Stanford Law School.

Debra Jordan, Deputy Chief
Debra Jordan is the Deputy Bureau Chief of the FCC’s Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau responsible for National Security and Preparedness of the nation’s communications systems. Ms. Jordan brings more than 30 years of Information Technology and Communications experience supporting the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) managing a variety of critical information and communications systems.

Ms. Jordan previously served as the Command Information Officer for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, where she led the Navy’s Task Force Cyber in the development of the cybersecurity roadmap for critical utilities and facilities infrastructure. Ms. Jordan’s career includes assignments with responsibility for Navy communications networks and telephony services across the Pacific region. As Executive Agent for the U.S. Pacific Command, she led the establishment of E911 and Public Safety Answering Points for the DoD’s Command and Control communications system in the State of Hawaii, to include integrated fail-over capability with County and State first responders. She also served as DoD’s subject matter expert representative to the Hawaii State Public Utilities Commission for numerous communications issues. As Executive Director for Commander, Navy Region Hawaii, she oversaw migration of emergency communications to the Enhanced Land Mobile Radio system, to include integrated communications for integrated operations with local and state first responders. Ms. Jordan is a native of Hawaii, and has received the Navy’s Superior and Meritorious Civilian Service Awards.

Lauren Kravetz,Chief of Staff
Ms. Kravetz is an experienced communications lawyer, currently serving at PSHSB Chief of Staff. She served previously as Deputy Chief of PSHSB’s Cybersecurity and Communications Reliability Division, where she supervised development and implementation of the Commission’s policies on network reliability and cybersecurity. In this role, she served as the Deputy Designated Federal Officer for the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council advisory committee. Ms. Kravetz has also held positions at the FCC as team lead for wireless major transaction review, WTB and PSHSB media relations director, intergovernmental and tribal liaison, and senior member of the digital television transition team. Before joining the Commission in 1999, Ms. Kravetz was in private law practice in Washington, D.C., focusing on representation of telecommunications providers and broadcasters before the FCC and state public utility commissions and in corporate transactions. Early in her career, she spent several years working on Capitol Hill.

A native of Los Angeles, Ms. Kravetz graduated Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude, from UCLA with a B.A. in Linguistics and French. She earned a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. She has served as a National Board Member of American Women in Radio and Television (now Women in Media) and President of AWRT’s DC Chapter, as well as the Chair of several committees for the Federal Communications Bar Association.

Jeffery Goldthorp, Associate Chief
Jeff Goldthorp is the Associate Bureau Chief for Cybersecurity and Communications Reliability and also serves as the Acting Chief of the Bureau’s Cybersecurity and Communications Reliability Division. He has a leadership role in the Commission’s effort to engage communications providers in the development of a market-driven cybersecurity risk management approach, which relies on voluntary measures and assurances from communications providers as a substitute for traditional regulation. He serves as the Designated Federal Officer of the Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council advisory committee and served in the same role for its predecessor, the Network Reliability and Interoperability Council.

As Acting Division Chief, Mr. Goldthorp leads a technical and legal staff that addresses cybersecurity and network and 911 reliability, including administration of the Commission's communications disruptions reporting rules, the Network Outage Reporting System, Disaster Information Reporting System, and 911 Reliability Certification database. Before joining PSHSB, Mr. Goldthorp was Chief of the Network Technology Division in the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology.

Before joining the FCC in November of 2001, Mr. Goldthorp was the General Manager of the Network Access Engineering Services practice at Telcordia Technologies. Mr. Goldthorp holds a patent for a DSP-based, near-end crosstalk simulator that is in use today in Telcordia's laboratories. He earned a BSEE from Lehigh University and a MSEE from Princeton University. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa as well as honor societies Tau Beta Pi, and Eta Kappa Nu.

Renée Roland, Special Counsel
Renée Roland serves as Special Counsel to the Bureau Chief and is responsible for addressing issues including strategies for robust and resilient commercial communications networks and systems, cybersecurity and communications reliability, public safety spectrum and licensing, and Emergency Alert Systems.

Before joining PSHSB, Ms. Roland provided counsel on special projects for the Office of Chairman Julius Genachowski, including evaluating and recommending technical solutions for ubiquitous mobile voice service. Ms. Roland also served as Senior Legal Advisor and Chief of Staff for the Offices of Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Mignon Clyburn covering spectrum, international and public safety issues. Since joining the Commission in 2001, Ms. Roland has served in senior positions in the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and Wireline Communications Bureau and had a lead role in in planning efforts related to The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Prior to joining the Commission, Ms. Roland served as Deputy Chief Counsel - Telecommunications for New York-based Prism Communication Services, Inc. She began her career in private law firm practice in Washington, D.C. specializing in media, wireline and satellite issues. Ms. Roland received her J.D. from the George Washington University National Law Center, and her B.A. in Economics from Georgetown University.

Erika Olsen, Senior Legal Counsel
Erika Olsen is Senior Legal Counsel to the Chief of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau. Ms. Olsen is responsible for addressing policy initiatives for the Bureau including those related to public safety spectrum, including the 700 MHz band and the First Responder Network Authority, and 911/E911/NG911. She is also the FCC representative to the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE), and leads the Commission’s efforts with respect to cybersecurity workforce development.

Before joining the Bureau, Ms. Olsen served as the Acting Legal Advisor to FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin for wireless, public safety and international issues, and previously served as the Deputy Chief of the Telecommunications Access Policy Division in the Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau. Prior to joining the Commission, Ms. Olsen was a partner in the telecommunications practice of a large international law firm. Ms. Olsen received her B.A. from Yale University, and her J.D., magna cum laude, from the Washington and Lee University School of Law, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif.